After many hours of walking she has arrived near the location of bandit town.

But she had not expected the area to be trapped.

AAAh! It hurts.. Misa trips over a pitfall trap and just barely manages to escape, spraining her ankle in the process.

She decides to walk the last part on the main road to avoid further traps. Her pace was slow, and every step painful. Then she hears a high pitched cheery voice inquire her.

Are you okay? You look hurt.

[https://i.imgur.com/tTbl6D8.png]

[https://i.imgur.com/EHvCm4s.png]

A pretty young girl with bright, golden hair smiles at her.

I fell down and sprained my ankle. It's because of these traps. Who are you?

I'm Venenia, and this is my friend, Abaddon. She points at her hat.

Your hat can talk? Misa remarks, surprised

A group of pests trapped my soul in this hat, Venenia is helping me recover my strength so I can restore my body, the hat remarks, seemingly annoyed. He has probably had to explain this hundreds of times.

Woah that's cool, I wish I had a friend like that.

Venenia helps Misa with her ankle and binds it so she can walk more easily.

This should last you till the general store where you can buy a healing potion there.

You're going to bandit village too? Misa asks.

Yeah, come to the restaurant at dusk! We could chat! I want to know more about you. Venenia says cheerfully.

Okay then, see you later.

Venenia walks to the main gate. A tall, mean looking guard stands in front of it.

Hello pretty lass, welcome to Bandit town, please come inside!

Thank you sir!

And she enters through a door next to the gate.

Maybe these bandits aren't so bad Misa thinks to herself.

Misa approaches the guard.

Hey you, what do you want? he says as he gives Misa a mean look.

I want to go inside Misa says.

What do you need from here? You're going to have to pay a toll, 1 gold piece.

But you let her in for free, Misa exclaims, somewhat annoyed.

That's different, now pay up or get the hell out of here.

But that's unfair!

I'm here for an order by Lycerta Misa says, showing the guard her scroll.

The man looks somewhat shocked and quickly replies, Okay, alright then. Forget about the toll and go inside, why didn't you show this in the first place.

Once inside there is a large marketplace. It's not too crowded, but it is lively. There's lots of market stands selling all sorts of wares, mostly weapons, combat gear, clothing and food. What's most surprising to Misa is that the people are very varied, there's people with tails and cat ears, lizard-like skins, some with bird-like wings. There's relatively few pure humans. There's even several half demons like herself, their red glowing eyes giving them away quite easily. Misa has never been at a market place before, but she feels at ease. When she worked at the burial sites she was often among large crowds.

She immediately spots Venenia, not too far removed from the entrance.

Young pretty lass, please try my new lemonade, I'm sure you will love it! A man operating a drink stand says, before pouring her a glass of lemonade.

Venenia thanks the man and walks away.

Wow. I'd like some lemonade too, Misa thinks to herself. She approaches the stand.

What do you want, brat? the man says, seemingly bothered already, by Misa's mere presence near his stand.

Can I have a drink too?

Sure, for 1 silver piece.

What?! But you gave it to her for free!

She's a charming young lady, I had to give her a drink. The man stares at Venenia and smiles.

And I'm not charming?

No exactly, you look like a brat. And I have to make money.

Misa immediately loses her temper. Why doesn't she have to pay?! It's unfair, and I'm charming too!

I don't even want your stupid drink anymore, it probably tastes like piss that's why you have to give it away anyway, asshole!

She tries to push one of the jugs but the man quickly stops her.

I'm going to break your arms you stupid pest! You'll regret this.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

The threat of violence quickly elevates Misa's anger and she realises the situation she has gotten herself into.

Don't touch me! I was sent here by Lycerta! She says before quickly showing the man her scroll.

The man lets go of her arm. He's always involving himself with you demonfolk, well fuck off then, and don't come near my stand again.

Misa walks away and looks at some of the other stands. Lots of finely crafted weapons, daggers, all sorts of wares catch her eye. There's pretty jewellery too. She doesn't even know the purpose for most of these items but they do look impressive.

After buying a health potion and applying it to her ankle she walks to the supply store.

It is operated by a large, fat, mean looking middle-aged man. But everyone in this town looks mean to Misa. Probably because it's a bandit town, kindness doesn't last long here.

She shows the man her scroll and he tells her he will have the items ready by tomorrow, except for the crystals. She will have to buy those from the mines directly. According to the shopkeeper, the supply lines with the mines were broken due to the increased presence of bounty hunters. Misa does not like the idea of having to travel all the way to the mines, but it was to be expected. By now it is dusk and Misa goes to the only restaurant in town.

It's quite large and at the edge of town. It has 2 floors and a large terrace on the second floor. The entire building is made of wood. It's one of the nicer looking buildings in the town, and clearly it has been maintained. Venenia is waving at her from the terrace. Misa enters the building and places herself next to Venenia.

Glad you could make it Misa! The food here is really good. The owner was originally a chef for nobles back in Satharak, but he was cast into exile. And now he cooks his amazing food here, everyone loves him! Here's the menu, pick something out that you like, it's my treat.

Before she finishes handing over the menu, a waiter arrives with a luxurious looking cocktail, for you miss Venenia, it's a gift from the young man over there.

Oh wow thanks, Venenia waves and smiles at the man before turning back to the table.

How do I become pretty like you! I want men to give me free drinks for being cute! Misa says.

Oh you shouldn't think like that, you're already cute! Venenia replies.

I don't think she looks cute, she looks like a troublemaker and difficult person, Abaddon remarks.

What?! At least I look cuter than a dumb old hat. You can't even walk anywhere. Misa says, already losing her temper.

That's exactly what I mean, you're rude and have no charm. It's the same with all you demons, you're short tempered and violent.

What I think he means is that you should try to be friendly, then people will be nicer to you as well. And you should always smile!

Friendliness goes a long way, even with mean looking bandits. A lot of them have very big hearts, they just want to look tough in front of their friends!

Venenia explains, before quickly changing the subject.

You must be hungry, they make really good mushroom soup here. I'm sure you'll love it.

I've never had mushroom soup before, Misa says.

They continue chatting and enjoying their mushroom soup for a little while before a stranger arrives. Dressed in shorts with shin guards, a small dagger in his left hand and a large sword, nearly the size of his body, on his back. His skin is slightly tanned and he spots dark half-long blue hair, with small draconian wings on his back.

Oh look, see that boy over there! He's a friend of mine, Pachua, he's a dragon slayer. But he's also a half-draconia, very powerful but kind. Keep your distance though, sometimes when he talks he spews fire, he can't control it. He goes on lots of cool adventures.

Oh hello Venenia, great to see you again! Who is this demon girl?

She's my friend Misa, she's a recently freed slave.

Hello Misa. You should be careful with demons like her though, they're very unreliable and violent. You can't trust them.

Misa gets angry, Why do you say that! I'm only a half demon, and I'm very trustworthy! I've never betrayed anyone you asshole!

Just ignore that, he has a habit of saying rude things without thinking

Venenia slaps Pachua on his cheek. If anyone else did that to him he'd get angry but he accepts it from her.

Abaddon continues the conversation, well to be fair, there is truth to it. Half demons have a tendency to be very violent.

Still its not a nice thing to say to someone you just met, Venenia follows up.

Besides, half-draconia aren't exactly known for their good behaviour either. Lots of stories of them burning down towns out of rage.

Those stories are made up to slander us! And if they did happen, I'm sure they had good reasons. Pachua says, becoming defensive himself.

Abaddon continues, like many halflings, half demons were an experiment to cross breed demons with humans for the purpose of war.

Daemons are very strong in combat. Well the men at least. One demonic warrior could handle up to 5 human warriors. This species especially has basically been involved in wars for its entire history. Their wounds heal fast and their condition is excellent. They prosper in these chaotic times.

But there's a downside, Daemon warriors age extremely slowly, and they are disobedient, nor are they loyal. They are generally sent into war when heavy losses are suffered, the Daemons excel in the carnage and have managed to turn the tides in many battles.

So they tried to cross them with humans, they'd age faster and hopefully they'd end up being more manageable, at the cost of some of the strength of an actual Daemon, that was the line of thinking. A half demon male has roughly 1/3rd the power of a full Daemon.

They do age faster, but they turned out to be just as uncontrollable as regular demons, so they send most of them into slavery. That way they could still make use of their strength, without the risk that comes with having them as warriors. But as you can see in this place, a lot of them escape and rebel.

Halfling Draconia are very similar in those regards, they're essentially used as elite warriors. And much like Daemons, dragons are known for their quick temper.

But if demons are so strong, then why am I so weak?

Well you're just a child, and they underfeed slaves so they never reach their full potential. And on top of that you're a girl, only men are used in combat. That goes for virtually any species I can think of, except maybe Elves and Valkyrie, but those rely on magic and archery not physical strength.

Great, there is really no advantage to being a half-demon is there, Misa thinks to herself.

Abaddon is very wise, Venenia says. He's a very old wizard, he's at least 200 years old by now, so he's seen a lot!

Since you're both wizards, can you teach me some spells perhaps? Misa asks.

Magic is very complex, we don't have the time to teach you spells. You're a complete beginner. Even talented magicians need at least a year before they start doing basic spells with any semblance of proficiency. Venenia has been practicing Arcane magic since she was 8 and she's still only halfway there. But I'm certain she will become an expert mage one day.

That sucks. I wish I had the ability to defend myself somehow. I hate being weak, and I'm not charming either, I have nothing going for me. Misa sobs.

It's not all bad, you have a far longer lifespan, and demons rarely get sick. In times of plague demons escape unscathed. Be glad you're not a half-rat. They're probably the most hated species out there, they're filthy and scheming, but quite smart.

Besides, you could buy some potions! They're expensive, but they can give you a great deal of temporary strength.

It's not easy for anyone Misa, Pachua escaped from a warrior camp when he was young. He's very strong now.

And being small means you get drunk faster hahaha, Pachua laughs, as he takes a swig of beer.

Yeah I just came back from a mountain expedition. We slayed a wyvern. There was so much good loot, I bought this new sword. Check it out. It's enchanted with a fire gem so it can burn things. Pachua is obsessed with fire, he's a bit of a pyromaniac.

The group continues to chat into the night, listening to many of Pachua's epic tales of fighting monsters. All of which involve him saving the day and his allies being useless deadweight. Surely he is a strong fighter, but one begins to question if his healers are truly as incompetent as he makes them out to be.

At night Misa books a room in an inn where she spends the night. Tomorrow she will have to begin traversing the marshes to the mines.